US retail & consumer publications

How will the 2014 holiday shopping season be characterized? What factors will contribute to how consumers make their shopping decisions? And how can retailers best prepare themselves going into the holiday season?

Empower loss prevention with strategic data analytics
Retailers are realizing that the strategic management of risk and the reduction of shrink can have substantial impact on both profitability and customer satisfaction. Savvy retailers are using data analytics to add value to their loss prevention and risk management programs. This paper outlines key ways retailers are building successful enterprise-wide loss prevention programs that apply data and analytics.

Working capital opportunities in the retail and consumer sectors
In the three years following the financial crisis, the largest global companies experienced a strong rebound in sales growth. However, since 2011 this growth has slowed down considerably, indicating that a return to consistent growth will be harder to achieve going forward. While there are many factors that can affect a company’s ability to grow, we know that both cash and investment are essential to sustaining this growth.

Business Recovery Services industry insights: Retail
While the holiday season is always a critical time for retailers, 2014 will be especially so for those “at risk” from either operational or financial distress. While the entire U.S. retail industry (including major national department store chains) continues to draw the watchful eye of lenders, trade creditors, and restructuring professionals, specialty retailers (those focusing on a single product or category such as consumer electronics or apparel) are at especially high risk for both operational and financial distress and could fall victim to a continuing shakeout of U.S. retailers heading into 2015.

SEC comment letter trends for the Retail & Consumer Industry
This publication provides an analysis of SEC comment letters issued to registrants across the Retail and Consumer industry. Business challenges, changes, and opportunities, together with ongoing regulatory developments in the financial reporting environment, underscore the need for continued focus on high quality and transparent financial reporting. Understanding where the SEC staff focuses their review is an important consideration in the year-end reporting process.

R&C Trendwatch: Anticipating the rise of junk food and soda taxes in emerging markets
Governments in emerging markets are increasingly applying sin taxes on junk food and soda as a way of raising revenue - and responding to public health concerns. Companies wanting to determine where sin taxes may be introduced will want to consider the political debate over health in the country, whether there is a middle class engaged in the debate, as well as fiscal need.

Consumer Intelligence Series: The wearable future
There is indeed a wearable future ahead, one that can dramatically alter the landscape of society and business as we know it. For months, we surveyed consumers and spoke with experts to explore the potential benefits as well as drawbacks, understanding why they matter, and how they will deeply shape us as individuals and as a society. Here is a look at some of the strengths and opportunities for wearable tech -- and the weaknesses and challenges that enterprising businesses must successfully navigate.

2014 Holiday Outlook
How will the 2014 holiday shopping season be characterized? What factors will contribute to how consumers make their shopping decisions? And how can retailers best prepare themselves going into the holiday season? Find out in our 2014 Holiday Outlook report.

Retail & Consumer Knowledge Brief: Technical and Quality Newsletter
What are the technical and reporting issues impacting retail and consumer products companies? PwC's Retail & Consumer KnowledgeBrief provides insights and summaries on two standards recently issued by the FASB, considerations and insights on the SEC’s continued focus on segment reporting, and more.

US retail and consumer deals insights: Q2 2014 update
Eight multibillion dollar deals kept the momentum building in Q2-2014, positioning the R&C deals market to outperform last year's strong performance to date. Consumer sentiment remains tepid and core retail trade sales slightly improved through June. IPO activity surged in Q2-2014, representing the second strongest quarter the sector has seen in the last three years in terms of both number of deals and proceeds.

Retail & Consumer Insights: 2014 Financial Benchmarking
What impact did the economy have on the financial results of retailers and consumer packaged goods companies? This report from PwC's Retail and Consumer Insights series provides financial benchmarks and discusses company strategies on operational efficiency, human capital, health and wellness, innovation, and brand management.

Why economic obsolescence matters for retail companies
Economic obsolescence can become a significant issue when a company has or is acquiring assets – such as store or restaurant locations – that generate separate identifiable streams of cash flows. This publication discusses factors that typically cause economic obsolescence and the potential impact, including illustrative examples and case studies.

Healthcare’s new entrants: Who will be healthcare’s Amazon.com?
As the $2.8 trillion US healthcare ecosystem transforms into a technology-enabled and consumer-focused market, companies from outside the industry are moving fast to capitalize on the change. From large retail, technology and telecommunications enterprises to nimble start-ups, these new entrants are poised to radically change how care is accessed, delivered, managed and funded, diverting billions of dollars from traditional healthcare organizations and building lucrative new markets in the burgeoning New Health Economy.

US retail & consumer deals insights: 2013 year in review and 2014 outlook
Despite a lull in deal activity during Q2, total transaction value for 2013 surpassed the $100 billion mark for the first time since 2008, anchored by one of the largest consumer products deals in history with the $28 billion Heinz deal. There were several factors which challenged consumer sentiment throughout 2013, however consumer sentiment was up year-over-year driven by labor and economic improvements. We expect R&C deal activity will continue its positive momentum, but will remain challenging as supply and demand of quality assets for sale may remain divergent.

Consumer products sector: Global tax rate benchmarking reportThe global tax system has been the subject of much debate in recent years and never more so than in 2013. Fiscal deficits around the world have led to increased scrutiny of taxes paid by large corporations, and civil society organizations have run high-profile campaigns using new media to put out their messages. While tax planning may comply with the letter of the law, it may be seen by some as not operating within the spirit of the law; overseas tax havens have come under particular criticism.

Answering your cybersecurity questions
There continues to be systematic security issues with retailers in the United States. A number of recent high-profile data breaches demonstrate that cyberattacks on retail and consumer organizations are increasing in number. This piece discusses what boards and management can do to better position their companies to handle cybersecurity events. It also covers threat actors who exploit retailers via cyberspace, and provides questions to consider in the early weeks of 2014.

US retail and consumer deals insights: Q3 2014 update
Eleven mega deals drove significant deal activity in Q3-2014, positioning the R&C deals market to outperform last year's strong performance. Retail sales and economic trends continue to improve, leading to higher levels of consumer confidence as we head into the holiday season. IPO activity slowed in the third quarter of 2014 in terms of both volume and value after strong performance in the second quarter of 2014 with only two IPOs in Q3-2014. However, the pipeline looks stronger for the fourth quarter.

10Minutes on strategic supply chain management
New research shows that high performing supply chains can achieve sales and revenue growth while managing costs. That sounds like a tall order, but there are things you can do now to manage your supply chain as a strategic asset to boost performance and profitability.

Conflict minerals survey: How companies are preparing
On May 31, 2014, public companies will have to comply for the first time with the SEC's Conflict Minerals Rule ('the rule") filing requirement. The is one of several SEC rules mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act that are intended to provide transparency into corporate practices. In the Spring of 2013, PwC surveyed companies online to determine their level of understanding of the rule, as well as their progress towards compliance.

10Minutes on harnessing customer demand to drive growth
Consumer-packaged goods (CPG) companies, retailers, and their business partners often tout the ways they put customers at the center of their strategies. But while many companies do a good job of understanding their customers, perhaps not as many create demand by coordinating across marketing, sales, and innovation—functions and activities that now encompass the demand chain.

Demystifying the online shopper: 10 myths of multichannel retailing
While digital technology continues to reshape the way companies and consumers interact, social media is not replacing the in-store shopping experience. This report, which presents the survey findings of more than 11,000 shoppers globally, debunks the conventional wisdom about online consumer behavior and helps companies better measure their approach to multichannel retailing.

Experience Radar 2013: Lessons from the US grocery industry
With today’s shopper armed with mobile apps and virtual offers, depends on just the right blend of self-service and helpful staff, and is increasingly immersed in an interactive environment, understanding grocery shopper values sets the gold standard for customer experience across all industries.

Retailing 2020: Winning in a polarized world
Retailing 2020: Winning in a polarized world identifies economic drivers that will shape the future US retail landscape and success factors winning retailers and suppliers will likely need to manage to drive growth in the retail landscape of 2020.